2003 WPW vs. Michigan State -- quotes
3/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
On what he thought the team did well tonight ... "Obviously, I'm very happy with the defense. Our goal was to limit them to no shots. I think the first times down they didn't get a shot, which is what we wanted. I was very happy with that. We got to play 21 ladies and we were 20 seconds away from a shutout, so that's always nice to see. It's hard when you're rotating that many people through to get a cohesive unit going. On the other hand, in a game like that maybe some of our people were trying to get the seniors too involved and maybe the seniors didn't want to do that at that time. In the first quarter, it seemed like nobody wanted to try to score the ball. They wanted somebody else to do it first. We figured that out after the first period and then we got our act together."
On the importance of the game ... "It's important for the seniors, which is the main thing. It's important for Michigan State as they are trying to win another club national championship. This gives them a very good game to try and see how far along they are during the season. Other than that, you only play these games for exhibitions and Senior Nights and you hope that nobody gets hurt."
On what is important over the next few weeks off ... "We're still not healthy. The next two weeks are to get healthy and to make sure that we are firing mentally and physically when we get to the Southern Division weekend. The next couple weeks are going to be a grind. We need to start refocusing. We had spring break and then a big win over Indiana. This last week was very relaxed. We didn't play any polo until last night in preparation for this game. I wanted to let the girls get back into their academics. After that, though, it's a tough road ahead."
Fifth-Year Senior Driver Delia Sonda
On her second Senior Night after deciding to return for another season ... "The thing I really noticed last year and now again this year is that since the game is quite early in the season, I don't really feel anything right now because we still have so many things to take care of. I do feel a little more nostalgia because our big games as a club team used to be against Michigan State. I know that a lot of the other girls were putting together a really nice thing for the seniors and that's probably when I'll realize that this is the last game. Since we still have so much to do, I haven't really been thinking about it being the last game."
Senior Driver Stephanie Morse
On what's important in this game ... "Having fun is important. That's big for all of us as seniors because this is our last home game. We just wanted to go out there and play well and have fun with it. That was the point tonight and that's what we did."
Senior Center Emily Pelino
On what's important over the next few weeks ... "We have a couple weeks off before we go to Southerns and Easterns so we have to practice hard. We're also going to Arizona State to play some more Western teams, so it is very important for us to come together as a team in practice and get healthy. These upcoming weeks are really important for us."
